Few Hamilton businesses are cool with the indoor dining ban. Others have been left out in the cold

As Hamilton eateries came to terms with another dreaded indoor-dining closure, one Hess Village restaurant had a miracle" weekend thanks to holiday leftovers.

Last December, during COVID-19 related indoor dining closures, Electric Diner set up a heated Christmastime holiday tent. It was so popular they applied for it to be permanent.

This year, customers were asking if the George Street restaurant was bringing the outdoor setup back.

Luckily we did," said co-owner Erika Puckering, because I really didn't foresee this closure coming again."

When Ontario ordered all restaurants to stop serving indoors as of Jan. 5, Electric Diner's tent was already good to go. They just had to take down a few walls to make it compliant with the new, ever-changing rules.

We've been really fortunate ... it's like a miracle," Puckering said.

Other George Street restaurants Moodys and Amigos also have heated patios.

On a balmy day," with temperatures a few degrees above zero, Amigos is all right, says Leanne Dielschneider, director of operations for those eateries, as well as Lucky's BBQ, also on George, and the Ship on Augusta. Moodys patio, she says, is warmer, but, it's a terrible time of year to have only patio."

Lucky's is the only one of the four without patio heaters, they opened right before the third wave lockdown, in February 2021, and there were no subsidies available for new businesses, so no funds for a fancy patio setup.

Martello on James Street North was thinking of winters in Quebec or in ski towns" hoping customers would bundle up and come out to their back patio, warmed by heating lamps and propane firepits, said manager Jenna Lane.

Lane said they started their patio plan Saturday with a soft launch and it was amazing."

Last winter, she says, she would eat takeout on the sidewalk in the snow with my friends," as there was no indoor dining. This year she says, why not do the same but with heaters."

Martello isn't doing table service. Head inside to order, then go out back and wait for your dinner, served in takeout containers to keep it warm.

They will continue opening for outdoor dining on Saturdays, for now. But, Lane added, groups can give us a call," if they want to come in on a different night.

West Avenue Cider, on Concession Road 8 East, off Highway 6 in Flamborough, started offering up firepits last winter as businesses were forced to close indoors.

People still want to gather - safely," said co-owner Amy Robson.

Patrons can get some snacks and cider flights. There are marshmallow s'mores for families. But the hot cider - boozy or not - is the campfire favourite.

This fall, they started taking reservations in October. But, they definitely notice an increase in firepit reservations when the lockdowns are on," Robson said.

West Avenue offers 90-minute fires for $20 - they only keep to the strict time if it is busy - and it is going over pretty well," she said.

With all the twists and turns of the pandemic, they had to do something, even though it's freezing," Robson added, lets make the best of it."

January isn't the ideal time for planning outdoor get-togethers.

Nobody really wants to sit on patios," Dielschneider said.

When the indoor dining ban was announced, a Lucky's staffer set up a sandwich board that said Patio is open lol," making fun of the possibility of sitting on an ice-cold patio, eating ice-cold barbecue, drinking ice-cold beer. Another staff member took a photo and posted it to the Ontario forum of the social media site Reddit. The post was upvoted over 4,500 times.

The situation is demoralizing" for staff, who are worried about how they're going to pay rent, Dielschneider says.

How do we keep staff motivated to come in every day," she asked, and keep them motivated to stay in the industry?

Martello management are excited about their patio plan, Lane said. There aren't any other strategies that seem to work, so we are hoping this one is the key to making it through the lockdown."

Electric Diner had been open for just six months before the pandemic, leaving them ineligible for most of the funding available for businesses. To get through it, Puckering said, they had to be strategic and creative.

We hoped for the best this weekend, and it was better than we expected," she said. The best part was being able to tell staff they had all their hours.

That makes me happier than anything, that our staff have their jobs ... fully intact."

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com